§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list(a) the newspapers and other media concerns and (b) the hon. Members to whom prior warning was given of Exercise Hadrian's Wall.
502W
§ Mr. HanleySince most of the activity took place in Scotland, a number of Scottish newspapers were informed on 3 December 1993 that the exercise was taking place. The list of these is as follows:
- Daily Record
- Scotsman
- Herald
- Galloway News
- Galloway Gazette
- Wegtown Free Press
- Dumfries and Galloway Standard
- Lennox Herald
- Helensburgh Advertiser
- South West Advertiser
My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence wrote to the hon. Member and to the right hon. and hon. Members for the following constituencies on 24 November 1993 informing them of the exercise:
- Salisbury
- Westbury
- Devizes
- Hampshire North West
- Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
- Dunfermline East
- Angus East
- Argyll and Bute
- Ross, Cromarty and Skye
- Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber
- Caithness and Sutherland
§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the role of Hunterston power station during Exercise Hadrian's Wall.
§ Mr. HanleyHunterston power station had no role in the exercise. A small amount of activity did, however, take place at the disused British Steel direct reduction plant at Hunterston.
§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many sorties during Exercise Hadrian's Wall entered the airspace(a) within one nautical mile of Hunterston power station, (b) within the Glasgow airport control zone and (c) within the Scottish control zone; and what permissions were obtained from the relevant authorities for this activity.
§ Mr. HanleyThe numbers of sorties which entered the specified areas were as follows:
Number Within one nautical mile of Hunterston Power Station 4 Within the Glasgow Airport Control Zone 7 Within the Scottish Control Zone 29 My Department consulted Scottish Nuclear and Hunterston power station before granting permission for flights within the provost marshal's prohibited area which affords special protection to the power station. Normal air traffic control clearances were obtained from airspace controlling agencies in the case of flights within the Glasgow airport and the Scottish control zones.
§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the nature and purpose of Exercise Hadrian's Wall in December 1993; what locations were used during the exercise; how many personnel and aircraft were involved; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HanleyExercise Hadrian's Wall was designed to test aspects of the land, air and maritime skills of the armed 503W forces. The locations used were RAF Boscombe Down, RAF West Freugh, Oban, Mallam Charles camp, Barry Budden camp, Aldourie Castle estate, Rosyth dockyard, Hunterston and some stretches of the Caledonian canal. The exercise involved 450 personnel, seven helicopters, two Hercules transport planes and two Tornados.